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« April 2009 | Main | June 2009 »
For the month of June, StampThings will be celebrating its 1 year anniversary. As the creator, I am so proud of this blog and all that it has accomplished in the last year.
To start the celebrating a little early, there is a FACEBOOK only contest. Over the next month, I'll be having random contests on facebook & twitter so now is the time to become a fan on FACEBOOK or follow me on twitter if you haven't already.
This contest ends May 29thm, but there are more to come!
Every good photograph tells a story. The most common mistake that people make when taking a photo is including too much ambiguous information when taking a picture.
Take this photo from example.
The photo is of a boy in a yard. It does not do a good job of telling a story. Had I not taken the photo, I might not have noticed the boy. The only thing that I can truly tell from the picture is that it was taken in a wooded area. A better photograph would zoom in on the child and try to give an indication of what he is doing.
This photograph is a better one. It was taken on the same day, in the same yard. This picture shows a boy playing with a ball. This tells a simple story and provides elements for you as a scrapbooker to play off of like the ball, leaves, etc.
Another typical problem with photographs is focus. Focus issues can arise from many problems, your camera will automatically focus for you. It won't always focus on the area of the photo that you want resulting in a blurry subject.
In the picture below, the photographer wanted a close-up of the welds, not the tire. The tire is in perfect focus, but the welds are fuzzy. This is because the camera was controlling where to focus instead of the photographer.
To avoid this issue, most point and shoot cameras allow you to press the button 1/2 way down to focus on your subject. When doing this, make sure that your subject is in the middle of the view finder. Once the camera has focused, continue to hold the button 1/2 way down while you recompose your shot. Once you are happy with the composition, push the button the rest of the way down to capture your shot. Not all cameras do this, you will want to check your camera manual to ensure that it has this capability.
The other common issue with blurry photos is camera shake. With automatic cameras, the exposure will be automatically set for you. The exposure dictates the shutter speed. If the shutter speed is greater than 1/60 second, you will need to use a tri-pod as most people cannot hold a camera still for more than a 1/60 second. The picture below demonstrates camera shake.
The picture below is a good example of good focus and good composition. The photograph tells a story of a child hiding behind a tree. The natural smile also provides some insight into this child's personality. I know because I'm his mom.
Another element of this snapshot is the lighting. This picture was taken on a overcast day. Yes, I am suggesting to take pictures on an overcast or cloudy day, not a rainy day, but an overcast day. Overcast or cloudy days provide nice even lighting which makes for excellent exposures. Since you can't make everyday a cloudy one, remember that shade is good as well.
Summary of Tips
Now go take some pictures!!
As Always, Happy Creatin'
This card was made using the following supplies from Stampin' Up!
This card inspired the following Scrapbook Pages.
Are you beginning to see how easy it is to create a scrapbook page? Now all you need to do is improve your pictures! Is that HINT enough for you??? No, okay I'll be more blunt then.
If you want to improve your snapshots, check out Thursday's post!
As Always, Happy Creatin'
Creating Keepsakes, a leading scrapbooking magazine in the country, has recognized Stampin' Up!'s superior products and service for ten consecutive years, since 1999, through its Readers' Choice awards.
Received Creating Keepsakes Readers' Choice Awards for
Winner: Rubber Stamps, Spring-Summer 2008 Idea Book & Catalog, Write Me a MemoryFont CDs
Finalist: Watercolor Pencils, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Stampin' Write Markers, Punches
Best of all, You can purchase these award winning products through ME!
Click Here or the Order On-line to order our award winning products! Don't forget to click the Button!
My 5 year old is obsessed with "The Bee Movie". For those without a 5 year old, this movie is a tale of Barry the Bee who sues the human race on behalf of "All the bees in the world" for steeling their honey. If you like Jerry Seinfeld, you are sure love this family favorite. In honor of the B movie, the Just B stamp set from Stampin' Up! was brought out to create this scrapbook layout.
In case you are CURIOUS about how this page was made, here are the instructions! (Did you miss my tutorials? I know I have missed making them!)
Supplies
OMG! Did I just mention a NON Stampin' Up! Item. Yes, I did. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Big Shot and I have been a Sizzix fan since before I became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. My first LOVE is Sizzix. Thankfully where crafting is concerned I can share my love. I digress....
What I want to say is that I know that people use other products other than those that Stampin' Up! offers. I am merely pointing out how well these other products can work with Stampin' Up! products. With this scrapbook page, I used the Opposites Attract Cartridge to create the word "Curious" from Chocolate Chip card stock using the Cricut Expressions Cutter. You can too.
The Instructions:
1. Fold a piece of 12" x 12" Summer Sun Card Stock in half by connection the points as shown below.
2. Scoring the paper
2a. The picture above shows the paper folded in half. The flat straight edge is lined up against the measuring guide and the point is lined up on the scoring bar. Once the paper is aligned as shown, make your first score mark.
To do this using the Stampin' Up! Paper Cutter, align the paper against the measuring guide and the point in the cutting grove. Place the Bone Folder in the cutting groove at the top. While Keeping the Bone Folder in the cutting groove, pull the Bone Folder down across the paper to create a straight score mark. The Bone Folder is used instead of the scoring blade, as a deep score (embossed mark) is desired.
2b. Move the paper to the left so that the score mark created is aligned with the 2" mark. Make sure that the paper is aligned properly and create your next score.
2c. Repeat Steps 2a & 2b until score marks are creates every 2.
2d. Unfold and refold the paper as shown in the picture below.
2e. Repeat 2a-2c to complete the diamond embossing pattern.
2f. unfold the paper.
3. Stamping the images.
The flower & bee stamps from the Just Be Stamp Set were selected for the background. The pictures below depict the stamping steps that were used to create the background of these scrapbook pages.
4. Arranging the photos. From the beginning the "B Curious" theme was a given. Since my little guy is a human version of Curious George, it was easy find photos demonstrating his curiosity and hard to only select a handful. From those selected this was the basic layout selected.
5. Adding Embellishments - The embellishments added included
The finished page:
I hope this inspired you to create your own Scrapbook page. Coming up next week, cards using the "Just B" stamp set and Communion Cards and Scrapbook Ideas. Don't be a stranger!
When I create a scrapbook page, I usually start with some photos and create a page to try to enhance the story that the photos are telling. The other day I create this layout using the following supplies and NO photos.
The fact that I had NO photos when I create this layout was very strange to me. I searched through my photos and decided that this page would be a great chronicle of Samantha's progress over her first year of life. I dug out the Live like you mean it Hostess Stamp Set from last year to complete this page. I think it truly reflects my little girl as she truly lives life like she means it! Weither you create pages based on papers that you love or telling a story, it is ALL good. Here is the final page.
I hope you will all create a scrapbook page in honor of National Scrapbooking month! I hope you will share it with me!
In honor of National Scrapbooking month, Stampin' Up! is running a couple of promotions. If you are interested in the promotions, please click here to be redirected to the Sales & Promotions page.
To accompany these promotion, I am offering several accessory kits. If you are interested in the accessory kits, please click here.
Most of you love to make cards, I would like to show you how the techniques that you use for making cards can easily be applied to making a scrapbook page.
For instance, I first saw this card on Late Night Stampers. I loved how the stamper used the flower from the Basket & Blooms XL Bigz die (PN 113484) to create the background shown above. The symmetry of the flower from this die is perfect for this patterned background.
I used this same pattern to create the background of the scrapbook page shown below.
This is a very straight forward example to wet your appetite. Over the coming month we will be showing more, so won't be so straight forward. I hope you enjoy.
Please remember, to leave a comment or send an email with your feedback.
Happy Creatin'
